Project Description

PERSGA GF/RAB/08/006

Promotion of strategies to reduce unintentional production of POPs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) coastal zone

Project number:

GF/RAB/08/006

Starting date:

September 2008

Duration:

2 years

Total Project Budget:

3,030,000 U$

Counterparts:

Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) in cooperation with national ministers of the Ministry of Environment (MOE) in the participating countries

Project Description:

Sustainable management of the resources of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden called for a collective regional approach, which culminated in the establishment of the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA). PERSGA has fostered a spirit of international cooperation and exchange of knowledge among governments, research institutions and civil societies in the region. The capacity of regional institutions has been enhanced and mechanisms are now in place for the collection and integration of regional data on the status of the environment. Regional action plans have been developed and integrated into the national sustainable development plans of the PERSGA member states. The proposed project will build on the existing cooperation and collaboration experiences of these countries (and their effort on sustainable coastal zone management) and integrate the Stockholm Convention (SC) requirements to the industrial sector of the coast to reduce and/or eliminate unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (UP-POPs).

Four PERSGA countries (Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Yemen) have become Parties of the SC and during regular consultation meetings of PERSGA, they have also agreed that close cooperation is needed to collectively implement the SC’s measures concerning introduction of best available techniques (BAT) and best environmental practices (BEP) for the coastal zone industries. The countries have further agreed that it could be possible that a larger impact on the environment and the coastal zone economy be attained if the cooperation is made at regional level rather than each country intervenes alone at the industries of its own coastal zone. Consequently, PERSGA has approached UNIDO for assistance through developing and implementing a Medium-Sized Project (MSP) to enable the introduction of BAT and BEP to the industrial sector of the coastal zone. It is important to note that Saudi Arabia is a self financed country, Somalia is politically unstable and Djibouti has expressed problems of language and preferred not to join the four countries.

The objective of the proposed project is to reduce and/or eliminate the unintentional production of POPs (UP-POPs) in key sectors of industry (cement, incineration, metallurgy and pulp and paper) recognized as important source categories in Annex C of Article 5 of the Stockholm Convention through the introduction of BAT/BEP strategies in the industrial sector of the coast in the PERSGA eligible member countries. By achieving this goal, the project will permit PERSGA member countries attain compliance with their obligations under the Stockholm Convention on POPs, particularly those related to the industrial sector releases of UP-POPs. The project will further contribute to the improvement of human health and environmental conditions in the coastal zone as the project is linked to national sustainable development plans of the participating countries.